Insulator.



E. R. HILL.

INSULATOR.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 25, 1908.

929,132. v Patented July 27,1909.

2 SHEETS -SHBET 1.

ERR human y ERHL ZZ, in 001M601 E. R. HILL.

INSULATOR.

APPLICATION TILED MAY 25, 1908.

Patented July 27, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET Z.

E.R.Hi ll, 5] vwa W606 551 h elite awe vS ERNEST ROWLAND HILL, or EASTORANGE, NE ERSE INSULATOB.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented .m ev, 1909.

Amputation filed Kay 25, 1908. Serial No. 484,716.

To all whom ti 1M?! concern:

Be it known that I, ERNEST ROWLAND HILL, a citizen of the United States,residing at East Orange, in the. county of Essex and State ofNewilersey', have invented certain new and useful Improvements inInsulators, of which the following is a specification, reference beingbad to the drawings accompanying and forming part of the same.

- My invention relates to insulators, and has for its chief object toprovide a simple, compact, and thoroughly reliable insulating de vicefor sus ending electric cables, trolley wires, or 01; or conductors fromthe under side of structures of any sort, such as bridges, tunnels,mines, girders, brackets, etc. I An important field in which theinvention finds special utility is that of alternating current railwayswhere the trolley wire or wires from which current is taken are to besupported from overhead bridges-or hraclc ets, from bridge 'rders wherecrossing'the same, and from t e roof or arch of tunnels. Insulators forthe class of service mentioned have heretofore been made .by moldinginlsulating material around pins and supports or by cementing the latterto porcelain bodies. The former type has not proved wholly satisfactoryin many cases. It is "generally conceded that porcelain is the superiormaterial, especially for high tension work, but insulators with cementedparts are not satisfactory where reliance for mechanical strength isplaced wholly upon the resistance of the porcelain or cement to tensionor compression. Such insulators when broken, either from mechanical orelectrical causes, allow the conductors to fall.

- In the present invention, porcelain, glass, or other suitable materialis depended upon for insulation, and to .1 limited extent for mechanicalstrength, but the distinguishing feature of the invention is a-nove useof strong metal bonds for securing the wiresupport to the insulatinmember and the The annular Figure 1 shows the insulator in verticalsection. Fig. 2 is a vertical section at right angles to theplane ofFig. 1. Fig. 3 is a lan view of base or supporting plate by w ich theinsulating portion of the device is suspended. Fig. 4 is a verticalsection of another embodiment.

Referring to Figs. 1, 2 and 3, A designates an insulating body,referably a single piece of orcelain. This ody'may be, 'and prefera lyis, rovided with one or more petticoats, as s own, va 'ng in number,size and arrangement acoor ing to the voltage requirements andconditions of use. The to of the body, which in the form illustrated 1scircular in plan, is made slightly flaring, as shown at B. On thisflaring topis a supporting member or base by whlch the insulator may besuspended For some purposes it may be desirable to provide the supporting member with trunnions, to permit slight play of the insulator inthe direction of the conductor, but in general I preier"-to have theinsulator mounted rigidly and hence prefer to make the supporting memberin the form of a plate, 0, provided with upwardly and outwardlyextending ears D by which it may be sccu-rel bolted to the underside ofthe structure .111 which the insulator is tobe used- On the bottom ofsupporting member or plate is an undercut recess E to receive theflaring top of the body A. ace between the two parts may be filled withcement if desired.

Extending through-the body, and open at the top thereof, is anarc-shaped passage or aperture F, to reeeive an arc-shaped U- bolt G,which, extending through the plate or supporting member 0, binds thebody A firmly and rigidly thereto. At right angles to the passage oraperture F is a similar aperture, H, crossing above the former, so

that the two are linked, soto speak. The

aperture or passage H is downwardly dissed, and carries a U-bolt I,similar to the ormer. v

On the underside of the body A 1s a conducto-r-su porting member ordevice J, rovided with suitable means, as for exam e a downwardlyextending threaded stem for sup rting a conductor. The device J is preerably a dish-shaped plate, as shown, and is 1'1 'dly bound to theinsulating body by the bin ing bolt or bond I in the manner shown. Thespace between the center portion of the device J and the insulatingbody, and also any s ace between the body and the plate C, may e filledwithgrout or cement, if desired.

The body A is not molded around the U- bolts; instead, the aperturestherefor are formed in the body and the bolts inserted afterward. Hence,in order to permit insertion of the bolts, the apertures therefor aremade circular, with their centers outside the body, thus enabling thebolts to be slipped into place easily and quickl An space left in thepassages may be ed wit cement or grout.

Another form of binding members for securing the three parts of theinsulator-together is illustrated in Fig. 4. Here the form of thepassages in the insulating body A is such that unyielding bonds cannotbe assed through them, and hence I use flexi le devices for the purpose,such as short pieces of cable, G, I. In order to secure the ends of .thebonds, so as to bind the insulator parts together with the desiredrigidity, the openings in the members C and J which receive the bondsare enlarged and the ends of the bonds are expanded tightly therein inany convenient and suitable way. i

From the-foregoing description it will be seen that practically the onlystress on the insulating ody when the device is in use is a compressionbetween the binding members. If from any cause, either electrical ormechanical, the porcelain body should be broken, the insulatingproperties of the structure are not wholly destroyed-unless theinsulating material should actually be displaced from between the linkedbinding members, thus allowing the same to come mto contact. In anycase, however, the suspended conductor will still be supported insteadof being allowed to fall to the ground as usually happens when breakageoccurs in an insulator 1I1 which the supporting members are secured bycement.

The device can be made in very compact form, as in the formsillustrated, so as to take up only a small sIpace, a feature of specialadvantage where c earance above a car or train is slight. The device isalso sim Is in construction, can be assembled quic y, and the metalsupporting members can be cheaply made by casting.

While I prefer the forms herein specifically described, as the bestforms for most purposes, it is to be understood that the invention iscapable of other embodiments without departure from its proper spiritand scope as defined by the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In an insulator, the combination'of a one-piece insulating body; amember for supporting the said body in depending position; a U-shapedbond passin through the body and binding the same to the supportingmember; a second U-sha ed bond assing through the body and .lin ed witht e first but spaced therefrom; and a conductorsup orting device securedto the underside of t e body by the second U-shaped bond; as set forth.

2. In an insulator, the combination of a one-piece insulating body; amember for supporting the body in depending position; a U- olt passingthrough the body and binding the same to the su porting member; aninverted U-bolt asslng through the body and linked with t e first U-boltbut spaced therefrom; and a conductor sup orting device secured to theunderside of the body by the inverted Ubolt; as set forth.

In an insulator, the combination of a one-piece insulating body; amember for ,supporting the body in depending pos1t1on a U-bolt assingthrough the body and havlng its en s extending upwardly through thesupporting member to secure the body thereto; a conductor-supportingdevice on the underside of the body; and an inverted U-bolt passingthrough the body and having its ends extending downwardly through theconductor-supporting device to secure the same to the bod as set forth.

4. In an insu ator, the combination of a 5. In an insulator, thecombination of a supporting plate; a one-piece insulatin body fittingthe underside o the plate; sai

body being provided with upwardly and downwardly extending arc-shapedassages or a ertures, crossin one above t e other within the body; a ateon the underside of the body and rovi ed with means for supportin a conuctor; and arc-shaped bolts exten ing' through the said passages 01' aertures and binding the said plates and t e body securely together; asset forth.

6. In an insulator, the combination of a sup orting member; a one-pieceinsulating bo y on the underside ofthe sup orting member, provided withupwardly and downwardly extending arc-shaped apertures crossing oneabove t e ot er at right angles within the body; a su porting member onthe under side of the ody for supporting a conductor; and arc-shaped bots extending through the said passage or apertures and binding thesupporting members and the body rigidly together; as set forth.

7. In an insulator, the combination of a supporting plate having anundercut recess assa es of on its under side; a one-piece insulatin bodyhaving a flaring top cemented in sai I recess, said body bemg providedwith upwardly and downwardly extending areshaped assa es or aperturescrossing one above t e ot er within the body; a-oonductor-supportingmember on the under side of the body; and ai'c-shaped binding boltsceinented in the passages or apertures of the boclfi and binding thesupporting plate, the 10 ins atin body, and the eonductor-supporting memer 'dl toether; ess'etforth, 5 ER E T1 fiDWLAND Witnesses:

THOMAS J. BIRNES, S. DUNHALL.

